Fs8 Co-pilot My First Experience

well it arrived last week so took it to work just to touch it,,,seems expensive for just two little boxes but I went all the way and got the z sensor and comp hookup as well.....I had already downloaded the manual and read and read and read till I understood all about it..THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT actually fitted it to my Caliber30 in one night as well as my throttle jockey, however the helitronix tach ended up in the bin as had reliability problems....yes I love gadgets..I must say it is well worth the extra to pay for the hookup to your comp as it gives you way more info than just the controller led ie noise tests,sensor leveling, and lots of other functions..setting up is not too hard but does require the female aproach instead of the male one ....WOMEN READ MANUALS MALES DONT lol this is after 3 minor crashes costing around $NZ600 which is around 1.5 times the cost of a new caliber in NZ (without motor) So i felt it was worth the investment if it can save my chopper while learning crashes totally destroy confidience and can put you back in your training a long way

did some minor mucking around but was not happy with the set up and incinently was anoyed my jr transmitter combines the throttle hold and chanel 7 on the same dam switch,,,stupid stupid stupid that means you have to switch off throttle hold if you want to use this chanel, making it a little dangerous,, I always set throttle hold on when transmitter not in my hands,,deleted all settings in the fs8 and reentered it all from scratch, went out today nervous as hell and started my setup,, first when I spooled up the chopper spun like a dam top yes I had my baby wheels on so it was softly softly,,first fault was the training feet as one ball had got tight after the last crash causing more friction when it got light on its feet,,then after fixing this to my dismay it still did it,,yes stoopid stoopid me I accidentally flicked the reverse switch on the gyro, while turning off the avcs....so when it needed left correction it gave right ,,,dont try this at home it was not pretty to see,,,then once spooled up it was vibrating badly yes it was blade tracking,,,this is with the fma gear turned off

NOW THE REAL SET UP turned co-pilot on and lifted off WITHOUT touching the sticks,,,,,YEA RIGHT!!! now the real story...turned on copilot and then turned on auto trim, calibrated it in a field surrounded by trees getting a reading of 8 pulses on the blades which is good,,up and down up and down adjusting sub trim and trim untill it was running correctly, to thoose like me learning the 200% concentration and feverish moving of the throttle sticks to keep the hover up turned into 90% concentration and gentle movememnt of the sticks..............at my present settings IT WILL STILL CRASH if I dont pay attention, but is way easier, when I turn it off it goes back to the hard work again,,I feel the system workes very well actually and is a good investment, im sure the chopper will improove in the hover and behave like they sugest but the slop in the caliber system does not help in keeping things smooth,,for real you can almost let go of the sticks but not quite as still needs some input...it is a very complex system and is very very clever but requires some setting up and research

if you are someone else who is trying to set this up or are thinking of buying it post here and we can share info,,,also I have just ordered the flight data recorder so will post on how good that works....

Gday, I see we are both in NZ. I have just ordered the FS8 and Flight recorder this morning. I see it is probably quite hard to set up. I intend to put this on a Vario benzin trainer (gasser). I dont want to crash this Heli. I may post you back if I get stuck. Hope you can give me some pointers as there is no one around here that can help with tuition or training. I have been hovering for 6 months with a bit of Forward and 90degree. Use Reflex XTR as training. Good to be in touch with someone in NZ.
Noah

hi Noah contact me at santonatwatchdog.net.nz cheers Tony

and yes you are correct it can be a dam pain to set up,,Im still fine tuning it but well worth it...I have just recieved the data recorder and it also is really COOL

I ordered the same set up to test on one of my T rex. I think it will make them easyer to teach with . I can practice some 3D and id i get into trouble I can just let go and it is said to just level out let me know if this is true with your set up . I know you are using a gas heli but it should do the same thing .
I will be getting mine in 2 day and Im wondering what the computer programe shows you on screen Servo input and useage ? RPM ha ha I wish . Battery life amp draw volts ? Just wondering ?